Going Home
by Rosesdancinginmymind
Summary: Summary – During an argument with Mr Gold, Regina accidentally hits Emma. Everyone turns against her again until Archie steps in and helps make things right. SQ based on a prompt from Regina fan.


_Summary – During an argument with Mr Gold, Regina accidentally hits Emma. Everyone turns against her again until Archie steps in and helps make things right. SQ based on a prompt from Regina fan. _

_How about one where Mr Gold is winding Regina up, making her get angry. And Regina goes to hit Mr Gold but Emma gets in the way and Regina hits her. Everyone is shocked and turns against Regina. And she's shocked at herself for hitting the woman she loves. Archie knows Regina is shaken up about it. And he says "Come on. Lets go home." And he takes her home. Regina tells him she loves Emma and would never hurt Emma. Archie then goes to Emma and Emma realises that Regina never meant to hurt her. - Regina fan_

_Angstsy but ends well. TW for the punch at the beginning. Thanks for the prompt :) _

She can feel the anger boiling up in her as Rumple continues to taunt her. All she wanted was a simple answer regarding the border spell but no. Heaven forbid things go that easily. As usual he decided to wind her up. Normally she doesn't mind and simply sasses him back. Today she's in no mood. She just wants to get home to Emma and Henry.

She takes a deep breath trying to control her rage but it isn't working.

"Will you just answer me yes or no?" she snaps as she tugs her coat around herself to shield against the cold. Regina can feel the eyes of the townspeople on the pair of them, probably waiting for one of them to do something to prove they haven't really changed. Being the object of their scrutiny isn't exactly helping to calm her growing irritation.

"Impatient are we your Majesty?" Rumple asks dryly. "I wonder why."

"None of your business. Can we just deal with this please?"

"Nuh-uh-uh, your pleases have no effect on me dearie remember?"

She scowls as she remembers his little addendum to the curse. It no longer works now but the reminder still irks her no end.

"Will you just tell me if I'm on the right track so I can go home?"

At that he smirks, "Ah I see, you want to go home to your saviour and her son."

She grits her teeth, "Our son."

He scoffs, "Well, tell me dearie how long do you this little happy family of yours will last?"

That does it. His condescending tone has her hand coiling into her fist. His sarcastic reference to her family plays on her worst insecurities and she can't help it. She snaps. So wrapped up in her anger she doesn't notice Emma running down the street having been called by one of the on-lookers. As her fist flies through the air Gold suddenly steps in the way and her hand collides with Emma's cheek.

"Ow!" Emma cries her hand going straight to her cheek.

It's Emma's cry that snaps Regina back to reality. She gasps in shock upon seeing who she ended up hitting. She can feel tears springing into her eyes as she realises she hurt the woman she loves. _Oh my god she's going to hate me. She's going to hate me. How could you do this to her? _

"Regina?" Emma asks as the brunette takes a step back to avoid accidentally hurting the other woman again.

"I'm so sorry," Regina says holding her hands up. "I'm so sorry."

Emma's about to speak when she suddenly hears a cry of "Did you see what she did?!" Before she can react a crowd gathers around them.

"Are you okay?" Snow asks gently reaching out for Emma's face to check over her cheek.

"I'm fine," Emma replies searching for Regina who looks like she might throw up.

"I can't believe she did this to you," Snow says angrily.

"I'm so sorry," Regina repeats but Leroy shoves her up against the wall, "Save it sister" he growls, "We all saw you hit her."

None of them heard her discussion with Gold and the imp poofed himself away as soon her punch landed. "I didn't mean it," Regina says but her words are cut off by the glares of the people surrounding her. She knows how they all see her now. They see her as someone who hurts their beloved Saviour. _And you are_ a voice in her head tells her. She feels another tear slip down her cheek upon the realisation that she was the one to cause Emma pain.

She can feel their hateful stares piercing into her. She looks over to Emma and sees Snow carefully expecting her cheek. She sees the bruise forming on soft skin. A bruise she caused.

Panic overtakes her and she poofs away.

All she wanted was to go home and with one accident she hurt the woman she calls home. Her magic dissipates and she sits down next to where Henry's castle used to be. She sobs as she realises she can't go home. She can't because she hurt Emma. She hurt the woman she loves and probably destroyed her home in the process.

* * *

"Did you hear?" Ruby asks.

Archie lifts his head at the question. As soon as he entered the Diner he could see it was buzzing with news. He just didn't know what since he had been stuck in the office with patients all day, well except Regina who for some reason didn't turn up. It worries him but it meant he could run out for lunch.

"Hear what?" he asks in reply.

"Regina hit Emma," Ruby says.

He frowns. It doesn't sound like Regina at all, "She did what?"

"Yeah she was talking to Mr Gold, then Emma came up and Regina hit her. That bitch, I knew she hadn't changed," she says before moving to go talk to another customer.

Archie scrunches his brow up in thought. The whole thing doesn't sound right to him. He knows how Regina feels about Emma and that she would never intentionally hurt her. He knows there must be more to it. Judging by the way people are talking about her this afternoon he can tell Regina could probably do with someone to talk to.

He exits the Diner quickly before walking the route to the old playground. He knows from their sessions that she'll be there. He spots her sitting on a log and staring out at the waves. He can see the traces of tears on her cheeks and he can tell what she must be thinking. He sits down next to her, "Hello Regina."

"Dr Hopper," she says her voice hoarse from crying.

"You missed our session," he says as a means of starting their conversation.

"I'm surprised you would want to talk to me after what I did," she replies sadly.

He frowns, "I heard from Ruby that you hit Emma." He can see from the way the woman tenses up and by the tears slipping down her cheeks how shaken up she is by this. "Why don't you tell me what happened?"

"I thought you heard already."

"I heard Ruby said and I know there must be more to it. So tell me what happened."

"I didn't mean it," Regina says with a sniff, "I was talking to Gold and he was winding me up. I was trying not to let it get to me but I did. He made a comment about my family, it was his tone more than anything that did it, you know how he can be. I snapped and I went to hit him. I didn't even see her coming but I guess he must have moved and then I hit her. She must hate me so much."

"Have you talked to her?" he asks.

She shakes her head, "No. I hurt her Archie. I love her so much and I hit her. I'm a horrible person."

He shifts closer before placing a hand on her shoulder, "Did you mean to hit her?"

"No. I love her and I would never hurt her."

"You're not a horrible person. It was an accident," he tells her, "Emma will know that. She'll know you never meant to hurt her and that you never will again. So come on let's get you home."

She sniffs, "How can I go home? Everyone hates me and what if Emma doesn't know that? What if she thinks I meant to? What if I hurt her again?"

"Regina," Archie says softly, "You can't think like that. You're not going to hurt her. I know it and you know it. We both know that you would never hurt her if you could help it. The only way to make you and Emma feel better is for you to go home Regina."

* * *

Archie walks the quiet woman up the driveway. She unlocks the door and lets another tear slip down her cheek at the silence that echoes through the large mansion.

"See?" she says to Archie. For her this is confirmation she has truly screwed everything up. He shakes his head at her, "Regina, it's only two. She's probably still at work," he says reassuringly.

She shakes her head, "She won't come back here," she says with a sad frown before shutting the door. She ignores his knocking and runs upstairs. She kicks off her shoes and takes off her coat before laying down on her bed. She reaches for Emma's pillow seeking out his comforting warmth and scent.

_Please come home _she begs silently as she lets herself cry into the pillow.

* * *

After failing to get Regina to open the door and let him in, Archie walks into the Sheriff's station. He immediately spots Emma sitting down writing out an incident report with a worried expression. He can also see Snow and Charming hovering nearby.

"Oh thank god. Archie!" Snow cries out running over to him, "I'm so glad you're here. Did you hear what Regina did? We need you to talk to Emma."

"Is she okay?"

"She says she is but she refuses to go out and arrest Regina. You have to talk to her," Snow says adamantly, "She's not thinking clearly Archie. We need to stop Regina."

Archie sighs. From what he can tell Emma might be the only one thinking clearly. He moves past Snow and Charming and into Emma's office. "Can I have a word?"

She looks up, "I'm not arresting Regina."

"I know but can I talk to you anyway?"

She nods, "Come on in."

He takes a seat opposite her, "How are you?"

She shrugs, "Honestly I'm fine. It's just a bruise. So if you're not on the 'arrest Regina' parade what are you doing here?"

"Firstly I wanted to check you were okay and secondly I wanted to talk to you about Regina."

"How is she? She poofed out of the crowd before I could go talk to her and since then my parents have basically been standing guard outside."

She knew as soon as it happened that Regina didn't mean to hit her. She knows Regina would never hurt her and she could tell straightaway that that punch was meant for Gold, and that he probably had it coming. "They're worried," Archie replies.

"I know," Emma sighs, "But I'm a grown woman and I can take care of myself. Besides they won't even give me a chance to explain to them what happened. They all just turned on her so fast."

"They did," Archie says, "So you know that Regina never meant to hurt you? She loves you Emma and she would never intentionally cause you any harm."

Emma smiles, "Thank god someone knows that."

Archie nods, "I'm just glad you do. You need to talk to Regina."

"She's not okay is she?" Emma asks worriedly.

"She's scared that you don't know that. She's worried that you'll hate her or think that she's going to hurt you. She thinks you're never coming home."

"What?" Emma asks, "Oh my god. I need to go talk to her. Can you go distract my parents so I can go home? I'll owe you one Archie."

He smiles, "Sure."

* * *

Emma runs up the driveway to the mansion and quickly opens the door. She frowns at the lack of noise in the house and searches for any sign of Regina. She pauses upon hearing the quiet sound of crying before following the sound and running up the stairs.

Her heart breaks a little at the sight of her girlfriend curled up and sobbing into her pillow. She walks over to the bed before gently rolling the other woman over, "Hey."

Regina blinks up at her in surprise as if truly shocked to see Emma standing over her, "Emma?" she asks. She sniffs before sitting up, "I'm so sorry Emma. I'm so sorry."

Emma nods, "I know Regina. I know you didn't mean it."

"You do?" Regina asks letting herself smile in relief.

Emma nods before sitting down next to Regina, "I do. I know full well you would never hurt me."

"I wouldn't," Regina promises, "I swear Emma I would never do anything to hurt you and it horrifies me that I did. How are you?"

"I'm fine," Emma says and she can tell straightaway that Regina doesn't believe her from the way caramel eyes fix on her bruised cheek. "I'm fine," she repeats, "Okay trust me it's just a bruise."

Regina tentatively reaches out to cup Emma's cheek before running her thumb over the bruise, "I'm so sorry."

"I know honey," Emma replies. "I'm sorry everyone turned on you so fast."

Regina frowns, "I'm not surprised. I hurt you."

"Still," Emma says, "It just annoys me that none of them stopped to think about really happened."

"Emma they made their assumptions. It doesn't surprise me."

"It hurts you though."

"It does. I can't do anything about it."

Emma frowns, "We can. First thing tomorrow we're going to fix this. I'm going to tell everyone what happened and they're going to listen."

"Why tomorrow?"

"Because today all I want to do is lie here with you."

Regina smiles, "I want to take care of you."

"Then come here and snuggle with me," Emma says lying down on the bed and opening her arms for Regina. The brunette smiles before scooting into Emma's embrace. She kisses Emma's bruised cheek. "I can do that," she whispers as she tenderly rubs the hurt cheek. "And I promise I'll never hurt you again."

"I know," Emma replies, "And I promise you that you never have to worry about me not coming home because you're the only person I want to come home to."

_Thanks for reading :) _


End file.
